Continuing On

Since I'm self-employed, I generally can set my own hours and my typical work day starts later and ends later than most. On most days, I don't get home until around 7:00, so I don't watch the local news at 6:00. But yesterday afternoon I went to the eye doctor and I couldn't use a computer while my eyes were still dilated, so I went home early and took a nap. I woke up shortly before 6:00 and still couldn't use the computer, so I switched on the tv and shortly into the newscast there was breaking news about the bridge over the Mississippi River on 35W between the University of Minnesota and downtown collapsing. Luckily before I turned on the tv, I had called my brother, so I knew he was already home from work. Because that's the very bridge he drives to and from work every day. I can't even imagine how devastating it would be if my brother were one of the victims of this collapse. I couldn't turn off the news coverage last night - it was like 9/11 or Oklahoma City. My mind just can't wrap itself around the idea that a major bridge like this can just suddenly collapse without any warning. It's another reminder of how fragile life is and just out of nowhere shit happens. So be nice to each other and live your life to its fullest. It's hard to return to a normal day to day life, but that's life too - tragedy strikes, but the world keeps spinning. So, here's the knitting news.

I finished my Multi-directional Scarf:



It's too hot to get a picture of me wearing the scarf. Here are the specs:

Project Name: Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf
Designer: Karen Baumer
Pattern Source: On the Web
Yarn: Artyarns Handpaint Stripes
Yarn Source: Knitswap blog
Date Started: 7/21/07
Date Completed: 7/30/07

Comments: This was a Project Spectrum project. Since it was so close to the end of July, I chose a purple and black project to span two color groupings, but I ended up finishing before the end of month anyway. This is a simple, easy to knit pattern. When I was knitting the last section, I started to think that maybe I misunderstood the directions to decrease on every row, so I ripped out and started decreasing every other row. And it started becoming misshapen, so I ripped again and started decreasing every row and it worked perfectly. I'm a complete idiot (and again showing my inability to comprehend geometry). Follow the directions - they're right as are the 100s of people who have made this scarf. The Artyarns Handpaint Stripes yarn is really lovely. I found a knot in one of the skeins, but otherwise it appears to be really high quality. It's pretty expensive, though, so I'm not sure I'd invest in it again.

I have another skein of this yarn that didn't quite match the other two, but I didn't need it for the scarf at all. So, I decided to make a mostly matching hat:



The weird thing about that is that besides the difference in color, it also feels different. This skein feels decidedly softer than the other two did.

Ugh!

Oh, it's uncomfortable these days. I'm trying not to complain because I know in a wink of an eye, it's going to be really cold, but I just can't help myself. I know it's a tattered old cliche, but it's true - it's not the heat, it's the humidity! It's hard to breath. But I know relief is coming, because players report to Vikings training camp today - football has officially begun! YAY!!!!

Speaking of yay, can I just say again how much I love Ravelry? I got an email this morning about a yarn that I have admired in the store being on sale. So I looked it up on Ravelry and looked to see what people are knitting with this yarn. And it gave me some great ideas. How cool is that? If you're still waiting for your invite to come, Margene posted a great idea today - start taking pictures of your stash and projects and such and get them set up in Flickr. That way when you get on, it'll be so much easier to input everything. Great idea! I'm not going back and putting all my old stuff in, because it's just too time consuming, but I do find it incredibly easy to just add stuff into Ravelry as I'm going. I'm putting my pictures up on Flickr anyway to post them to this here blog, so it's just a minute or two more to go into Ravelry and add them there too - easy, peasy!

Like this new project I've been working on:



You probably recognize the pattern. It's the Multidirectional Scarf knit in Artyarns Handpaint Stripes. Since it's so close to the end of July and almost time to change Project Spectrum colors, I decided to knit up this bridge project - Black of June/July and Purple for August/September. I've had this yarn sitting next to my computer for months, so I literally started a project with the first yarn I could grab. It's incredibly easy - go make one for yourself or for charity!